Pound Ridge, N.Y.: A Bucolic Feel and a Sense of Community

Back in the 1970s, Steven DiFlora had an unrequited crush on Doriane Lucia, a high school classmate in New Jersey. Decades later, after each had married and divorced, they reconnected, fell in love and last year began searching for a house. “We were starting our life together,” Mr. DiFlora said, “and the first step was to purchase a home.”

Moving from separate houses in New Jersey, the couple, both in their 50s, knew what they wanted — natural beauty along with a sense of community — and they found it in Pound Ridge, N.Y., a town in northeastern Westchester, about 50 miles from Manhattan. In September 2015, they bought a three-bedroom, two-bath Cape Cod on two and a half acres surrounded by woods for $596,000. The house, with a pool and a deck, was built in 1930 and expanded in 1974.

Since then, Mr. DiFlora, a partner in an engineering consulting company in Manhattan, and Ms. Lucia, a billing specialist at a Manhattan law firm, have sampled the offerings in Scotts Corners, Pound Ridge’s half-mile-long business district, and hiked with their dog in Eastwoods Preserve, one of 17 that are managed by the Pound Ridge Land Conservancy. They appreciate the town’s bucolic roads, which meander past wooded slopes, streams and lakes and 19th-century stone walls. “You realize you are truly off the beaten path,” Mr. DiFlora said.

Of Pound Ridge’s 30 square miles, nearly a third is open space, including more than 3,000 acres of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. In this quiet, relatively undeveloped town, there are no traffic lights.

There is also no train station. “I think one of the most significant reasons Pound Ridge is like it is, is that the railroad passed us by,” Edward Condon, the town historian, said.

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57 FANCHER ROAD A five-bedroom four-bath 1780 farmhouse on 4.87 acres with a pool and a tennis court, listed at $2.45 million. 914-299-9956CreditSusan Fisher Plotner for The New York Times

Another reason is the topography, which prevents the installation of sewage systems; all residents have septic tanks. “Wastewater issues hamper the business district,” Richard Lyman, the town supervisor, said.

Nevertheless, Scotts Corners, near the town’s southern border, is lined with restaurants and shops. Two miles northwest is the Inn at Pound Ridge by Jean-Georges, a restaurant owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, in a former home built in 1833. The inn is in the Hamlet, a historic district with the library; the 19th-century Conant Hall, a former church now used as a gathering place; and a cluster of vintage homes.

Planning is underway on a revitalization of Scotts Corners, with a $1.875 million federally funded Transportation Enhancement Program grant. Streetlights will be installed, and sidewalks and crosswalks improved. Mr. Lyman said work should be finished by the end of 2017.

What You’ll Find

There are roughly 1,930 single-family houses in Pound Ridge, according to Diane Briganti, the town assessor — a mix of colonials, Cape Cods, ranches, 18th- and 19th-century antiques, midcentury moderns and sprawling contemporaries. Most are on lots of at least two acres. There are no condominium or rental complexes; a small number of rental units are on private property or above storefronts in Scotts Corners.

What You’ll Pay

As of Dec. 5, there were 73 single-family homes on the market, according to Mary Anne Condon, an associate broker at Houlihan Lawrence. (She is married to Edward Condon, the town historian.) The least expensive was a three-bedroom 1955 Cape Cod on 4.1 acres, listed at $535,000. The most expensive, listed at $3.6million, was a 1903 nine-bedroom house on 4.09 acres, with a pool, a barn and frontage on Blue Heron Lake.

The median sales price for single-family homes for the 12-month period ending Nov. 30 was $805,200, which was down from $838,500 for the previous 12 months, Ms. Condon said.

The Vibe

The town’s roughly 5,400 people include families with schoolchildren, older couples and a smattering of celebrities. Residents can opt for undisturbed solitude or participate in community-based volunteer organizations and activities like the Memorial Day parade, Fourth of July celebration, holiday tree-lighting festival and farmers’ market. Mr. Lyman estimated that 30 percent of the population are weekenders.

Hikers and birders can explore trails encompassing ravines, waterfalls, woodlands and promontories. The 33.9-acre Town Park has two trails as well as playgrounds, ball fields, three swimming pools and other features.

There is more shopping in nearby Stamford, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield and Wilton, Conn., and in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

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244 SALEM ROAD A four-bedroom two-and-a-half-bath Colonial on 2.01 acres, listed at $699,000. 914-469-9737CreditSusan Fisher Plotner for The New York Times

The Schools

Most of Pound Ridge is in the Bedford Central School District, which also serves students in Bedford, Bedford Hills and Mount Kisco. Pound Ridge families send their children to Pound Ridge Elementary School (one of the district’s five elementary schools). All students attend Fox Lane Middle School for Grades 6 through 8 and then Fox Lane High School; both schools are on the same campus in Bedford.

A small area in northeastern Pound Ridge is zoned for the Katonah-Lewisboro Union Free School District. Mean SAT scores for the 2016 graduating class of the district’s John Jay High School, in Cross River, were 566 in reading, 572 in mathematics and 563 in writing.

The Commute

Commuters’ options include Metro-North’s New Canaan or Stamford stations in Connecticut or the Katonah, Bedford Hills or Mount Kisco stations in Westchester. All are within 20 minutes’ drive. As nonresidents, some drivers park at meters, others at spaces rented from merchants.

The 7:30 a.m. train from New Canaan arrives at Grand Central Terminal at 8:39. The monthly fare to Grand Central from Katonah, Bedford Hills and Mount Kisco is $356, from New Canaan and Stamford $332.

The History

Every road in Pound Ridge is identified, not by a conventional street sign, but by a pointing finger emerging from a fist attached to an arm bolted to a post, the whole thing painted white with black lettering. These beguiling signs were introduced in the 1950s by Guy Rainsford, a designer who lived in Pound Ridge, according to Ebie Wood, president of the Pound Ridge Historical Society. Originally cut from redwood, “they were so attractive they were being stolen,” Ms. Wood said, so since the 1980s, they have been made of metal.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page RE7 of the New York edition with the headline: A Bucolic Feel, Open Space and a Sense of Community. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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